The Island Sailing Club (ISC), organisers of the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race, has reached agreements with the Royal Southern Yacht Club in Hamble and the Royal Lymington Yacht Club to act as HUB Clubs for the duration of the Race weekend Friday 26th – Sunday 28th June.
This bold initiative, to extend the reach and excitement of the Race ‘in situ’ to these two mainland yacht clubs, has resulted from some competitors commenting that they were unable to be in Cowes after the Race but were nonetheless keen to be part of the pre and après Race events.
The Race Marketing Committee came up with the concept of inviting some other major mainland clubs who are already big supporters of the Race to become extensions of the ISC as Race ‘hosts’ so that even more competitors, their families and friends, might enjoy the buzz surrounding this most famous of one-day yacht races.
Open door policy
The Royal Southern and the Royal Lymington Yacht Clubs, as the two supporting Race HUB Clubs, will have the look and feel of the Race in their locality. They will provide facilities for competitors to meet with friends and families after the Race by extending an ‘open door’ policy over the Race weekend, enhancing and extending the excitement and atmosphere generated by the world’s largest yacht race.
The HUB Clubs will be Race branded and, using technology supplied by the ISC team, they will run live streaming of the Raymarine Weather Briefing at 1800hrs on Friday 26th June, live streamed coverage of the Race and tracking, plus a full declaration and results service and Race Tankard collection on Race day, Saturday 27th, all fully resourced by the ISC Race Management Team.
Sharing the experience with family & friends
Speaking on behalf of the Royal Southern, Rear Commodore Sailing Graham Nixon said:
“RTI Race day is always lively at the Club, but this will allow us to welcome even more competitors who berth in the Hamble and want to share in the atmosphere which the Race generates. It should be a great party.”
The Royal Lymington Yacht Club’s Rear Commodore Sailing Stuart Duffin concurs, commenting:
“We are taking this exciting opportunity, working with the Island Sailing Club, to make innovative improvements to the Round the Island Race experience for our Members, their crews, visiting crews and guests here in Lymington. To have real time information from Cowes and the Race course readily displayed here, as well as results and some of the prizes, should improve the experience for all, and enable crews to share the Race experience with each other and their friends while taking advantage of the Club facilities before, during and after the Race. As a result, we hope that more visiting yachts will use the excellent facilities here in Lymington as their base for the RTI weekend.”
Entries currently stand at 736 and this figure is expected to more than double by the time standard entries close at midnight on Saturday 13th June.
Enter here: http://rtir.me/entries
The Island Sailing Club is grateful for the continued support of the Race Title Sponsor, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, and the Race Partners: Dream Yacht Charter, Haven Knox-Johnston, Henri Lloyd, Old Pulteney, Raymarine, Volvo Car UK.
Official Race Charity:
http://www.ellenmacarthurcancertrust.org
Official Race website:
http://www.roundtheisland.org.uk